How To Make A Basic Paper Airplane
~ The Dart ~
This is a tutorial on how to make a basic paper airplane called the dart. It’s the one you probably first made as a kid because it’s the easiest to make and remember, and it flies really, really good for such a basic paper airplane.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out our History of Paper Airplanes page and see why this plane is the grandfather of all the paper airplanes you see being made today. You’ll read about how the patent filed by Butler and Edwards in 1867 set the stage for our favorite hobby.
The other thing to note about the Dart is that its design is the basis for many (if not most) of the other popular planes we love to make. The swept delta wing design makes for great speed and distance! You can create two distinctly different looks by changing one fold. First, as we’re showing in Step 5 below, when you fold the sheet in half if the folds are on the outside in this step they will be hidden beneath the plane when you finish. Instead, you can fold the sheet in this step so that the folds are on the inside when you fold the sheet in half, which will result in a different finished look with the folds visible on the top, but giving the plane a smoother underside. Here’s another picture guide on making this basic plane.
How To Make A Basic Paper Airplane:
- Step 1 – Fold the paper in half lengthwise and make a crease.
- Step 2 – Start with one corner, fold it over and line up the edge with the center crease.
- Step 2 – Flip the paper over and do the same with the other side, making sure to line the edges up as close as possible.
- Step 3 – In this step fold the plane in half, with the folds on the outside (as shown).
- Step 4 – Now simply fold one side down onto the center crease, making sure to line up the edges for a better plane.
- Step 5 – Flip the plane over and fold that side down.
- Step 6 – Now you will fold each side down one more time to finish the wings.
- Step 7 – That’s all there is to it. Fly that thing!
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- Start with a plain 8 1/2″ x 11″ sheet of paper and fold it in half lengthwise as shown, and crease the edge.
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- Situate the paper in front of you like this and proceed to fold the corners down in next step.
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- Start with one corner, fold it over and line up the edge with the center crease.
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- Flip the paper over and do the same with the other side, making sure to line the edges up as close as possible.
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- In this step we fold the plane in half, with the folds on the outside (as shown), which results in folds being visible on the bottom of the finished plane. If you want to, you can fold this in half the other way, with the folds on the inside after you fold it here.
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- After you have folded the plane in step 5, now you will simply start folding the wings down onto the center crease, making sure to line up the edges for a better plane.
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- Flip the plane over and fold the other side’s wing.
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- Now fold the wings down one more time in the same way, lining up with the center crease.
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- Flip it over, fold the last wing one more time.
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- This is what the finished Dart will look like.
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- Another view of the finished Dart. Sleek and fast… let it rip!
If you want to make a really cool plane, check out our other paper airplane tutorials like the Condor.
WOW! I’m so glad i found this website! My son is a HUGE paper airplane fan and now he has a free service to learn more!
Thanks Barbara! It’s good to hear from readers and to know our site is helpful.
Enzo